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I've road in a few on your list and I would buy the Wooldridge XL SJ without hesitation. By far, it is the best performing shallow running river boat on the market at this point in time PERIOD and the boat new is close to your price range.

If you are looking at hitting the salt, even once a year, I'd look for a boat with a closed bow, or a way to close it off...I know nothing about running the salt, but I do know a bit about the boats you mentioned and I wouldn't take any of them out in the ocean....But a lot of guys do take them out with great success so it is doable... I'm just a bit chicken of the ocean in a small boat....

Of the list you gave, I'd say the Xtra Plus would be the best bet, simply because you want to take it in the salt....but it will run the rivers just dandy...even the upper salcha and clearwater's

RIDDLE MARINE. If your talking about the difference between running in 3-inches or 3 1/2 inches of water well you may want one of the other boats but my Riddle boat has a 3/8 inch bottom, supported by 9 stringers up to 3/8 inch thick, 8 degree dead rise, 18 feet long, weighs 1,750 lbs, powered by a 200 hp sport jet, hits 48 mph down the Susitna, but the best thing about a Riddle Boat is that you can actually bounce off a few boulders without worrying about sinking the boat. If your looking to explore with your boat you'll be glad you went with a Riddle. My 2 cents. I'm sure there are lots that will disagree but I would ask if they have driven a Riddle.

I'm a big fan of the Wooldridge Sport. Safe in the big water, runs shallow, nice high sides.
I see a 20' for sale on the Anch. CL. Having had an Alaskan, I found the big, open bow on that design was a bit scary in big swells, while the Sport has a more "seaworthy" bow design, and higher bow and sides to deflect water back.
The Sport is also nice in that the cockpit is quite far forward, and gives great visibility on the rivers.

If I were forced to only own one boat and it would be used on rivers and the occassional dip into PWS it would be an inboard V8 jet boat. Couple of good brands on the market but I would look into buying something in the 23-25 foot range with a 8.5 to 9 foot beam. Most of these boats have fairly high sides and are safe when running in 2-3 foot seas.

Many on the market right now and you can buy a 3-4 year old, low hour, completely rigged boat in the lower 48 for about 40-50% of what they cost new.

Buy bigger than a 20 foot model otherwise you will out grow it within a year. Many of us have learned our lessons after buying a couple of boats, and that lesson is to over buy instead of under buy. You will be pretty disappointed trying to fish 4 guys out a 20 foot boat after a few trips out.

I went to the Spring Gathering and rode in most of the boats that were there. I think most of the boats there were very good and would get the job done. I have no interest in running the salt in the boat I buy...Paul H & I think along the same lines here. TJM's boat was/is at the top of my list as a base boat with lots of mods. to make it best for our use; mainly running rivers and skinny water with a few lake trips. Don't know how much deck space 4 people need as I think in terms of the wife and me (and the dog to replace the "pup" she recently lost); I like to give the wife lots of casting room. As TJM's was the first one Wooldridge made last year there aren't going to be many used ones around. If I can't afford a new one that's the "best" there's lots of similar used boats that'll get the job done; all have their trade offs.

I really like my 20' Hewescraft Sportsman with the 200 SJ. I can run all the rivers I want with a little common sense and run PWS all the time. The fishing area is huge. Just ran several little sloughs on the Su and Yetna last night too. Hitting up Whittier next week.

fab an enclosed hull

Originally Posted by tjm

If you are looking at hitting the salt, even once a year, I'd look for a boat with a closed bow, or a way to close it off...I know nothing about running the salt, but I do know a bit about the boats you mentioned and I wouldn't take any of them out in the ocean....But a lot of guys do take them out with great success so it is doable... I'm just a bit chicken of the ocean in a small boat....

Of the list you gave, I'd say the Xtra Plus would be the best bet, simply because you want to take it in the salt....but it will run the rivers just dandy...even the upper salcha and clearwater's

I have a jetcraft 2175xs I was wondering if it would be feasible to fab an enclosed hull for valdez?
We have went out to entrance island before,however we stayed close to groups and followed others wake back in because the two foot swells looked like they might swamp us. BAD feeling.

Are you asking about an enclosed "bow" rather than an enclosed hull? If your hull is not enclosed than I would say, you are sunk!

If its the bow you are referencing, you could have a snap canvas top built for it with wood slat bows braced across for a cheaper retrofit.

Nice idea, my bow is open and we got in some 4-5 stuff in Homer a couple weeks back. The waves were close together and I kept thinking I was gonna pierce the next wave............it was a long puckery ride in. I shouldnt have waited so long to head back to Seldovia, hard to pull the hook when the fish are biting, a pretty common trap that I swear every year I wont get sucked into.

One thing about snaps, I wonder if they would hold if ya pierced a wave? Mine self bails in front but those 2" holes are ok for splash back. One over the bow could get ugly and I doubt snaps would help much.